Update on my heirlooms....

Update on my heirlooms....

Here is my monster, the Genovese Costoluto. I can't keep count of the maters on her anymore, I stopped counting @ 25:

One of the many clusters on the Genovese:

The Genovese, the in-ground Brandywine, and the Beefsteak....nasturtiums in the foreground:

One cluster on the Beefsteak:

These are just a few. I would take more pics but am suddenly busy as the proverbial bee! lol. BTW, HG, my in-ground Brandywine FINALLY has put on some fruit, but they're as yet too small to photograph. The hanger, in the meantime, is still doing very well, and the Amish Paste hanger has some small fruit now.

Beautiful! I went out to stake my plants better with my wife, and lo and behold we had several clusters forming that we didnt know about! I had been looking at the plants every day from my 6 foot tall perspective, but when I got down to tie them to the stakes I found several fruit hiding! It was quite a pleasant surprise. Keep the pictures coming!

I'll definitely try the Genovese next year. This year (Zone 7 Arizona), my Beefsteak and Black Krim have completely exploded (loaded with toms), my Soldacki is moderately producing at best, and my Brandywine has yet to set a single fruit (though it is nearly 5 ft tall).

Thanks, everyone. Nice to have one's efforts admired. @ Rob, my in-ground Brandywine just set it's first fruits in the past couple of days. Maybe it's a trait. My German Tree tomato finally set fruit, also, just found it this morning. I was seriously considering yanking it if it didn't do something, cause it takes up a ton of space. It must have felt my intentions. My Russian Blacks are also doing very well, producing at a good rate, not as much as the Genovese....Beefsteaks puttin' on pretty well, too....Cherokee Purple and Carbon appear to have stepped up production as well, and my Black Cherry and Yellow Plum are both "hanging full", as they say. I cannot WAIT to have a salad out of the Black Cherries and Yellow Plums together, won't that be lovely?? Of course, I'll post pics. @ James: Isn't it fun to find those first fruits? It's like an Easter egg hunt! @ Alex - I only hope the Genovese fruit tastes as good as she is looking right now!

So I have a confession...my plants are yet to produce a ripe tomato, and there havent been any at the farmers market...so I picked one from an Early Girl at the Gardening Center and ate it on the spot

I was so surprised by my actions that I confessed immediately to the owner. I offered to pay, but she just laughed. I think she let me slide because I have spent thousands of dollars on plants, shrubs, and trees since I moved into my house 2 years ago...I guess this tomato was a little discount

Ha! I have been tempted to do that kind of thing, James. When I went to my garden store yesterday for a new fertilizer, they had all these tomato plants in 3-gallon pots, and they all had enormous green fruits on them. I am sitting at home with around 4 flowers on one of my cherry tomato plants, and nothing on anything else. The temptation to blow $22 on one of those plants almost got me.

brandywine and other german type tomatoes are generally slower and lower bearing than other tomatoes. In my experience, the cherokee purple, amish pinks and pastes, and black krim have been the exception to the lower and slower rule. I still grow brandywines just because i have family and friends who love the flavor and request them often.

Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique.

Have you grown this many plants before? What will you do with all the excess you are sure to get? My wife and I are raising 8-10 plants this year and she is overwhelmed at the prospect considering we had too many tomatoes for us on 2 plants last year! We plan on learning some preservation techniques, but I am just curious if you have any info on how much you can/preserve per plant or anything of that nature. Thanks!James